Clothes-line apparatus.



No. 677,002. Patented June 25, I901. P. n. TRYON.

CLOTHES LINE AlPAHATUS.

(Application filed Aug. 14, 1900.)

.(ModeL) UNrTno STATES PAT NT rrrcnt PIIILO N. TRYON, OF SAN FRANCISCO,CALIFORNIA.

CLOTH ES-LINE APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 677,002, dated June 25,1901.

Application filed August 14,1900. Serial No. 26,835. (Model!) T 0 allwhom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, PHILO N. TRYON, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city and county of San Francisco, State of California,have invented an Improvement in Clothes-Line Apparatus; and I herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of thesame.

My invention relates to a means for winding and unwinding aclothes-line, so that it may be extended to a distance from theoperating station when clothes have been hung upon the line and returnedto said station as the clothes are removed.

. It consists of two shafts or rollers journaled axially in line, eachhaving an interlocking or clutch mechanism by which they may be causedto rotate in unison by the turning of a crank upon the end of one of therollers and a yielding spring by which they are united, which springnormally retains the clutch mem bors separated and which serves tocompensate by its elasticity for any shrinking or stretching of the linecaused by wet or dry weather.

My invention also comprises details of construction, which will be morefully explained by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure 1 is a horizontal section through the box, showing the interior.Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the device. Fig. 3 is a detail of thespring connecting the rollers.

The object of my invention is to provide improvements in that class ofclothes-line apparatus which is designed to be used from porches orelevated points where there is but little room for hanging clothes andwhere the line is extended from the operating point by passing around adistant fixed pulley, so that the clothes may be hung upon theline andthe latter moved out until the line is filled.

The distant pulley A is fixed at any suitable or desired relation withthe inner operating end of the clothes-line 2. This line passes aroundthe distant pulley and both parts of the line return from the pulley tothe operating station. At this point two shafts or drums 3 and 4 arejournaled axially in the same line, having suitable bearings about whichthey are independently turnable. To protect the parts and forconvenience the outer ends of the shafts are shown as journaled in thesides of an inclosing box 5, which may be under lock and key, ifdesired, and the end of one shaft projecting through the side of the boxhas fixed upon it a toothed ratchet 6, engaged by a pawl ,7, by whichthe ratchet can be held to prevent the shaft from turning, when desired.A crank 8 enables the operator to turn the shaft in either direction.The two shafts may be kept in line by various methods, the one hereinshown consisting in boring through each shaft and insorting a loose rod4:, of sufficient length to fit in the holes, and to form a connectionwhich will keep them in line. The contiguous ends of the two shafts havethe engaging lugs, forming clutch members 9, for the following purpose:One part of the line 2 coils over one of the shafts 3 from the top, andthe other part of the line coils around the other shaft 4 from below,each portion being secured to a shaft by staple or other fastening, sothat when the two shafts are turned in unison one part of the line 2will unwind from its shaft and the other part will be wound upon itsshaft. \Vhen the crank is turned so that there is a direct pull upon theshaft 3, the other shaft 4 will turn in unison, and the line passingaround the distant pulley A will be unwound from the shaft 4 as fast asit winds upon the shaft 3.

Then the clothes are to be hung upon that part of the line which windsupon the shaft 3, it is necessary to move the line outward as fast as anarticle is secured to the line until the full length of this part of theline is filled with clothes to be dried, but as the two shafts 3 and 4are' loose and independent it would not be possible to thus extend theline except by temporarily connecting the two shafts, and this is doneby the clutch members 9, previously described. These members are fittedto engage, so that when the crank is turned so as to unwind the linefrom the shaft 3 the clutch will engage, so that the power istransmitted directly through the clutch to turn the shaft f by directaction of the crank, and thus pull upon that portion of the line whichwinds upon this shaft and draw the other part of the line carrying theclothes outward. When the line is to be returned upon the shaft 3, theclutch may disengage, because the pull is then directly upon the shaft 3and the shaft 4 simply turns to allow the line to unwind from it andpass around the distant pulley. In this way the two shafts alternatelyact upon the line, the shaft 4 acting by reason of the clutch to windthat portion of the line upon itself, and correspondingly extend thepart which unwinds from the shaft 3, and the shaft 3 acting to returnthe line, while the shaft 4 acts as an idler and turns in unison, butwithout direct connection to allow the line to unwind from itself.

In order to compensate for the shrinking of the line when wet andstretching when dry, I have shown the two shafts as connected by aspring 10. This spring may be of any suitable description which actsaxially with the two shafts. It may be a coiled spring surrounding theshafts having one end fixed to one of the shafts and the other by meansof a bracket 11 or like device connected with the other. The elasticityof this spring normally retains the clutch members 9 separate from eachother; but when the crank is turned to extend the line fromthe shaft 3the first action will be to turn the shaft 3 until the action of thespring causes the clutch members to engage, the spring yieldingsufficiently for that purpose. The clutch members being thus engaged,the two shafts will then be equivalent to a single rigid shaft and powerwill be applied to the shaft 4, so as to draw in the line upon that sideand Wind it upon shaft 4, the line unwinding from the shaft 3 in unisou.Vhenever the line is to be returned to the shaft 3, the turning of thecrank in the opposite direction disengages the clutch and allows itsmembers to separate, so that the only connection between the twoshaftsis by the elastic spring.

That portion of the line which serves for the reception of clothes isnormally coiled upon its shaft 3 within the box when not in use toprotect it from the action of the elements and from dust; but theportion which is then exterior to the box is subject to being wet anddry and t0 consequent shrinkage or extension of length, and this iscompensated for by the elasticity of the spring which connects the twoshafts 3 and 4. If the line be wet, and thus shrinks and shortens, thetwo parts of the shaft will be allowed to turn by the spring will besufficient to take up the slack caused by its lengthening.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination ina clothes-line carrier of a distant pulley aboutwhich the bight of the line passes, shafts journalcd in line with eachother, about one of which the line coils from above and the other frombelow, a clutch by which the shafts are united to turn in unison in onedirection and released when turning in the opposite direction, means bywhich the shafts may be turned, and an elastic connection between theshafts, yieldingly uniting the latter and providing means forcompensating for the shrinking and stretching of the line.

2. The combination with a distant pulley about which the bight of theline passes, of shafts journaled in line, about one of which the linecoils from above and the other from below, clutch-faces on the adjacentends of the shafts, and a torsional connection having one end connectedwith one of the shafts and the other with the other shaft whereby theclutch-faces are normally separated, said connection serving tocompensate byits elasticity for any shrinking or stretching of the line.

3. The combination in a clothes-line apparatus of a distant pulley uponwhich the bight of the line passes, independent shafts journaled in linewith each other, about one of which the line is coiled while it uncoilsfrom the other, a normally-disengaged clutch adapted to engage and turnthe shafts in unison in one direction, and a spring having one endconnected with one of the shafts and the other with the other shaftwhereby an elastic connection is effected.

4. The combination in a clothes-line apparatus of a distant pulleyaround which the bight of the line passes, independent shafts journaledaxially in line around which the ends of the line coil in oppositedirections, whereby one portion of the line is coiled upon its shaftwhile being u'ncoiled from the other, and a circumferentially-actingconnectingspring whereby the two shafts are yieldingly united, and anautomatic compensation for shrinking and stretching is produced.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

PHILO N. TRYON.

\Vitnesses:

S. H. NOURSE, CHAS. E. TOWNSEND.

